Jazz fans blurt racial slurs, players say

Contra Costa Times

Posted:
05/11/2007 03:03:35 AM PDT

Updated:
05/11/2007 09:08:17 AM PDT

OAKLAND -- At times during the first two games of the Warriors' Western Conference semifinal with the Utah Jazz, the sound generated by the home crowd at EnergySolutions Arena has reached ear-ringing levels.

But even that much noise didn't keep Stephen Jackson and Jason Richardson from hearing some ugly language come through loud and clear from the sold-out stands.

Jackson and Richardson both said Thursday that they had been subjected to racial slurs from the predominantly white crowd of 19,911 during Game 2 on Wednesday night.

Neither player would repeat what specific insults were used, but Jackson said they included a six-letter word.

"That was something new," Richardson said. "It shocked all of us. We weren't expecting that. I mean, (Jazz fans) were trying to get into our heads any way they can, but I couldn't believe anybody would stoop that low. It's nonsense."

No Warriors mentioned any such problems after the game Wednesday. The topic came out only when Jackson was asked Thursday about the difference between playing at Oracle Arena versus Salt Lake City.

"Well, we're not hearing racial slurs, we're not hearing people wishing for me to go to jail," Jackson said. "That's the difference for me. I'm loved here in Oakland. I'm John Gotti in Utah."

Jackson, who spoke calmly about the topic, took the brunt of the fans' ire as the Warriors' lightning rod.

"I heard all kinds of stuff the second game, which is good because I know I've got fans," Jackson said.

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"They're paying my salary, so it's cool. I just thought people would carry themselves in a better way. They always worry about how we're going to act towards fans, but they never consider what we've got to sit there and take. Which is cool. I mean, I don't mind taking it. But at the same time, it gets aggravating, to the point where you want to do something about it, but you can't."

To Warriors president Robert Rowell, such language could hardly be considered "cool."

"We will certainly look into their comments," Rowell said in an e-mail. "For what I observed, the fans in Utah are well-behaved and passionate. There is no place for inappropriate fan conduct in the ... playoffs."

A Jazz spokeswoman reached Thursday said that the team hadn't heard anything about any abusive language before a reporter's call.

Off the glass

The Warriors nearly had a player-in-the-stands situation similar to the one that cost Richardson $35,000 during the Dallas series. Richardson was fined that amount for an altercation with a fan after landing in the front row of seats at American Airlines Center in Game 5. Wednesday night, Baron Davis fell into the fans after hitting a fadeaway 3-pointer, and apparently his jersey was held by a fan as he scrambled to get up. First, Rowell said the team was planning to call the league office regarding Davis' treatment, but later in the day, a Warriors spokesman said the club had reviewed the tape and determined the situation wasn't serious enough to warrant a formal complaint. ... Since moving to Utah, the Jazz is 10-2 in playoff series after winning the first two games. Golden State, meanwhile, has come back from an 0-2 deficit only once in 11 tries; coincidentally enough, the lone success came against the Jazz in 1987. The Warriors won three straight, the last one in Salt Lake City, to take the teams' first-round Western Conference series that year.